Straight from today’s Quotle — here’s who really said it, and the story behind it. Play again

Who really said it

I have never understood why it is "greed" to want to keep the money you have earned but not greed to want to take somebody else's money

Written by Thomas Sowell born 1930 · American economist and social theorist
Verified In copyright

Sowell wrote it in a syndicated newspaper column in May 1994. Barry Popik cites the Tuscaloosa News of 13 May 1994, where it ends “someone else’s money.” He reprinted it word for word, ending “somebody else’s money,” in Barbarians inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays (Hoover Institution Press, 1999). A full-text search of that book confirms the wording.

Last verified 3 Nov 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

For presentations

Put it on a slide

Verified quote & credit

“I have never understood why it is "greed" to want to keep the money you have earned but not greed to want to take somebody else's money” Thomas Sowell, Barbarians inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays (Hoover Institution Press, 1999); earlier in his syndicated column, May 1994.

Can you use it?

Still under copyright (rights held by Thomas Sowell; Hoover Institution Press (1999 collection)). A short, credited quote is generally fine for talks, teaching, and internal decks; for commercial, published, or large-scale reuse, get permission.

Image direction — grounded in this quote’s real context; paste into your image tool

In context

Evoking the world of Thomas Sowell — American economist, social theorist & Hoover Institution senior fellow. Theme: "I have never understood why it is "greed" to want to keep the money you have earned but not greed to want to take somebody else's money". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Minimalist

Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "I have never understood why it is "greed" to want to keep the money you have earned but not greed to want to take somebody else's money". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Provenance

The source

Book
Barbarians inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays
Publisher
Hoover Institution Press, 1999
Earlier printing
Sowell’s syndicated column, Tuscaloosa (AL) News, 13 May 1994, p. 6A (as cited by Barry Popik)
Wording
1999 book: “somebody else’s money” · 1994 column: “someone else’s money”

I have never understood why it is “greed” to want to keep the money you have earned but not greed to want to take somebody else’s money.

This is the wording in the 1999 book, the version that circulates today. The 1994 newspaper printing, as Barry Popik transcribes it, ends “someone else’s money.” In the book, the next item begins “What an irony that Richard Nixon was dying…”

Barbarians inside the Gates (1999) at the Internet Archive

How we traced it

  • Barry Popik traces the line to a syndicated column Sowell wrote in May 1994. He cites the Tuscaloosa (AL) News, 13 May 1994, p. 6A, col. 4, where it ends “someone else’s money” (Barry Popik ↗).
  • A full-text search of the 1999 Hoover Institution Press edition of Barbarians inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays finds the sentence word for word, ending “somebody else’s money” (Internet Archive ↗).
  • Wikiquote lists the line under Barbarians inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays (1999) on its Thomas Sowell page (Wikiquote ↗).
  • A different line that circulates beside it, about “need,” “greed” and “compassion,” is Joe Sobran’s. Popik cites it from The Economics of Liberty (1990) (Barry Popik ↗).
In copyright

The line comes from a 1994 newspaper column by Thomas Sowell and his 1999 collection Barbarians inside the Gates (Hoover Institution Press). Both were first published long after 1931, so the text is under copyright in the US. Quoting a single sentence with attribution is normal commentary use.

Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.

Fact-check

What gets mixed up

The attribution to Sowell holds. Two things do get mixed up: a small change in the wording between printings, and an older line by a different columnist that people often quote alongside it.

“someone else’s” vs. “somebody else’s” Both Sowell

Popik’s transcription of the 13 May 1994 Tuscaloosa News column ends “someone else’s money.” The 1999 book reads “somebody else’s money,” the form most sites quote today. Popik reproduces both (Barry Popik ↗).

Joe Sobran Different author

“‘Need’ now means wanting someone else’s money. ‘Greed’ means wanting to keep your own. ‘Compassion’ is when a politician arranges the transfer” is a shortened form of a passage by Joe Sobran. Popik cites it from The Economics of Liberty (Mises Institute, 1990), p. 169. Popik calls Sowell’s line “a similar quote,” but the wording is Sobran’s, not Sowell’s (Barry Popik ↗).

Thomas Sowell wrote it in a May 1994 syndicated column and reprinted it in Barbarians inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays (1999) (Barry Popik ↗).

Context

Why it travels

This is one of Sowell’s most-shared lines in arguments about taxes and redistribution. Barry Popik notes that it “has been frequently cited by conservative authors.” One example he records is a post by U.S. Representative John Fleming on 8 August 2012 that credits it to Barbarians inside the Gates (Barry Popik ↗).

Unlike many lines credited to Sowell online, this one is accurate. The wording that circulates today matches his 1999 book exactly. The Foundation for Economic Education uses the same wording in its list of Sowell quotations (FEE ↗).

Why is it greed to keep, but not greed to take?

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Justice Freedom Work

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Barry Popik: “I have never understood why it is ‘greed’…”barrypopik.com

Cites the 13 May 1994 Tuscaloosa News column and the 1999 book, plus later uses
Barbarians inside the Gates (1999)archive.org

Catalog record and restricted scan of the Hoover Institution Press edition that contains the sentence
Thomas Sowell on Wikiquoteen.wikiquote.org

Lists the line under Barbarians inside the Gates (1999)
Barry Popik: Sobran’s “need … greed … compassion”barrypopik.com

The look-alike line, traced to Joe Sobran in The Economics of Liberty (1990)
FEE: 30 quotes from Thomas Sowellfee.org

A widely shared list that uses the same wording as the book
Thomas Sowell on Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org

Biography: born 1930, economist, Hoover Institution senior fellow

The writer

About Thomas Sowell

Thomas Sowell

Born 1930 · American economist, social theorist & Hoover Institution senior fellow

Thomas Sowell was born in Gastonia, North Carolina, and grew up in Harlem. He served in the Marine Corps during the Korean War. He then graduated from Harvard, earned a master’s at Columbia and a PhD in economics at the University of Chicago. He is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and received the National Humanities Medal in 2002. Readers know him best for his books and his syndicated newspaper columns, many of which were later collected in essay volumes such as Barbarians inside the Gates.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Cite the source

Thomas Sowell, Barbarians inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays (Hoover Institution Press, 1999). Earlier in Sowell’s syndicated column, Tuscaloosa (AL) News, May 13, 1994, 6A, as cited by Barry Popik.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘I have never understood why it is greed to want to keep the money you have earned but not greed to want to take somebody else's money’?” Last verified 3 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/i-have-never-understood-why-it-is-greed-to-want-to-keep-the/

Something wrong on this page?

Tell us what’s off. A link helps but isn’t required — “this is the wrong person” is a useful report on its own. Nothing here changes the page directly; it goes to our review queue and a human checks it.

Only used to tell you if we act on your report. We never sell or share it.

Copied